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☆ Disney dodges the Trump question
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-14 | by ( Peter Kafka | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Last week, Warner Bros. "In a way, we've already consolidated," he said on the company's earnings call Thursday morning, in response to a question about M&A possibilities during Trump 2.0. Disney, like other media companies that have news organizations, has already drawn Trump's ire, during the 2024 campaign. During that fight, conservatives harped on the company, calling it too "woke," while liberals — including some Disney employees — felt the company wasn't forceful enough in standing up for diversity. AdvertisementIt's no surprise, then, that Iger didn't say the word "Trump" once during his call.

Persons: Bob Iger, Iger, he's, —, Trump, we've, Rupert Murdoch's Fox, David Zaslav, Zaslav, John Malone, Malone, it's, JD Vance, Matt Gaetz, Murdoch's, Kamala Harris, He's, Paramount's, Ron DeSantis, harped Organizations: Warner Bros, Discovery, Service, Trump, Disney, Comcast, Big Tech, of Justice, Time Warner, Murdoch's Disney, ABC, Paramount's CBS, Gov Locations: Hulu, Disney's, Florida

☆ Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav thinks Trump will let him consolidate
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-07 | by ( Peter Kafka | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

David Zaslav wanted a new president that was open to M&A. And we still don't know if Trump will have problems with specific deals — like he did when AT&T wanted to buy Time Warner. AdvertisementDavid Zaslav wanted a new president who would make it easier for his company to buy other companies — or sell itself. The second version of the Trump administration may be a boon for media companies facing "generational disruption," the Warner Bros. AdvertisementBut even if the new Trump administration is more receptive to big deals, that doesn't make them a foregone conclusion.

Persons: David Zaslav, Trump, —, it's, Zaslav, John Malone, there's, Joe, Biden, Lina Khan, Jonathan Kanter, Shari, There's, Time Warner's, Rupert Murdoch's, Malone Organizations: Big Media, Time Warner, Service, Warner Bros, Discovery, Netflix, Federal Trade Commission, Department of Justice, Paramount, Trump, Trump's Department of Justice, Time Warner's CNN, T, Disney, CNN

☆ Trump has long threatened the media. Press freedom groups fear he might make good on it
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-07 | by ( Liam Reilly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

New York CNN —Press freedom groups sounded the alarm Wednesday on the potential dangers facing journalists under a second Trump administration, denouncing threats from the president-elect and his associates to undermine the news media. “On the campaign trail and during his previous administration, President-elect Donald Trump has frequently deployed violent language and threats against the media. His election to a second term in office marks a dangerous moment for American journalism and global press freedom,” Reporters Without Borders said. In the run-up to Election Day, Trump repeatedly threatened the Fourth Estate, often employing extreme and authoritarian rhetoric. In the wake of Tuesday’s election, press freedom advocates remain concerned about the longer-term implications of legal threats that journalists could face.

Persons: Trump, Donald Trump’s, “, Donald Trump, Kamala Harris, ” Clayton Weimers, Time Warner, ”, Katherine Jacobsen, “ Trump, ” Trevor Timm, Biden, it’s, We’ve, ” Jacobsen, Puck, —, ” Kyle Paoletta, Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Un, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Xi Jinping, Hungary’s, Viktor Orbán, ” CPJ, Kash Patel, ” “, Joe Biden, — we’re, Steve Bannon, Trump’s, . Sulzberger Organizations: New, New York CNN — Press, Protect Journalists, Press Foundation, American Sunlight, Borders, CBS, Trump, Justice Department, Time, CNN, White, Protect Journalists US, “ Lawmakers, Politico, Axios, “, Columbia, National Security Council, The New York Times Locations: New York, Pennsylvania, Canada, Caribbean, United States, strongmen, North Korean, Turkish

While on the campaign trail, Trump threatened retribution against some tech companies, including jailing Meta's chief, Mark Zuckerberg. "That is likely to have devastating consequences for US tech companies that sell in foreign markets as well as crippling domestic consumption." Hay said that while most presidents wouldn't have any say on existing cases, "Trump is a bit more of a wild card." AdvertisementBut still, he said, new guidelines wouldn't have much impact on the biggest tech companies. There are fears that if H1-Bs are restricted under the second Trump administration, the US could lose its competitive edge on the world stage.

Persons: Donald Trump, —, Trump, Elon, marveling, — Musk, jailing, Mark Zuckerberg, Zuckerberg, Mark Lemley, Lemley, GlobalData's Neil Saunders, Chris Walton, Walton, there's, George Hay, Hay, wouldn't, Kamala Harris, Dan Romanoff, Joe Biden, Anna Rathbun, Biden, he's, Rathbun, James Brundage, Saunders, Valerie Wirtschafter, Harris, Romanoff, Wirtschafter Organizations: Trump, Big, Service, SpaceX, Big Tech, Google, Justice Department, Department, Barclays, Stanford Program, Law, Science & Technology, Business, Retail, Target, Apple, Cornell University, Republicans, Morningstar, AT, Time Warner, Republican, Walmart, Brookings, Artificial Intelligence, Emerging Technology Initiative Locations: Americas

AI regulation is likely to change under Trump, but major antitrust cases are unlikely to be impacted. While on the campaign trail, Trump threatened retribution against some tech companies, including jailing Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg. "That is likely to have devastating consequences for US tech companies that sell in foreign markets as well as crippling domestic consumption." AdvertisementBut still, new guidelines won't have much impact on the biggest tech companies, Hay said. Experts fear that, if H1-Bs are restricted under the second Trump administration, the US could lose its competitive edge on the world stage.

Persons: Donald Trump, —, Trump, Elon, marveling, — Musk, jailing, Mark Zuckerberg, Zuckerberg, Mark Lemley, Lemley, Neil Saunders, Chris Walton, Walton, there's, George Hay, Hay, wouldn't, Kamala Harris, Dan Romanoff, Joe Biden, Anna Rathbun, Biden, Rathbun, James Brundage, Ernst, Saunders, Valerie Wirtschafter, Harris, Romanoff, Wirtschafter Organizations: Trump, Big, Service, SpaceX, Big Tech, jailing Meta, Google, Justice Department, Department, Barclays, Stanford Program, Law, Science & Technology, Retail, Target, Apple, Cornell University, Republicans, Morningstar, AT, Time Warner, Republican, Walmart, Brookings, Artificial Intelligence, Emerging Technology Initiative Locations: Americas

☆ Jim Cramer says the market for mergers and acquisitions will be back under Trump
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-06 | by ( Julie Coleman | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

CNBC's Jim Cramer on Wednesday told investors the Trump administration is more likely to allow mergers and acquisitions to go through, processes largely stymied under Biden. "I am very confident in the idea that, under President Trump, M&A's about to come back and come back bigly," he said. Beyond M&A, Cramer said the President-elect is likely to relax antitrust regulations, whereas Biden appointees have scrutinized Big Tech outfits like Apple . But while Cramer suggested these companies are likely safer from regulatory interference under Trump, he said some of that depends on Trump's own attitude towards them. "So, it's not a surprise to see most of America's big name tech CEOs come out today with enthusiastic, public messages of congratulations for President-elect Trump," he said.

Persons: CNBC's Jim Cramer, Trump, Biden, Cramer Organizations: Wednesday, M, Trump, Time Warner, CNN

☆ Trump or Harris? Here are the 2024 stakes for airlines, banks, EVs, health care and more
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-13 | by ( Hugh Son | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +18 min

Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris face off in the ABC presidential debate on Sept. 10, 2024. The previous Trump administration didn't pursue those types of consumer protections. In contrast, Democrats, including Harris, have historically supported EVs and incentives such as those under the Biden administration's signature Inflation Reduction Act. Meanwhile, Harris, if elected, can build on existing efforts of the Biden administration to deliver savings to more patients, they said. Trump also led multiple efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, including its expansion of Medicaid to low-income adults.

Persons: Donald Trump, Kamala Harris, he's, Harris, Joe Biden's, Trump, Pete Buttigieg, Jonathan Kletzel, didn't, — Leslie Josephs Banks Big, JPMorgan Chase, Biden, Tobin Marcus, it's, Sen, JD Vance, they're, Lindsey Johnson, Hugh Son, Pablo Di Si, EVs, Joseph Spak, Harris hasn't, Mike Wayland, Drugmakers, Trump hasn't, Mariana Socal, Annika Kim Constantino, David Zaslav, John Malone, Time Warner, Simon, Simon & Schuster, Marc DeBevoise, Jonathan Miller, Elon Musk's, Musk, I'm, MAGA, I'm Dark MAGA, —, TikTok, — Lillian Rizzo, Alex Sherman, Michael Lynn, — Amelia Lucas Organizations: ABC, Getty, U.S, Trump, Treasury, Justice Department, Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Financial, Bureau, CNBC, The Biden Department of Transportation, Democratic, American Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Spirit Airlines, Industry, Boeing, JPMorgan, Securities and Exchange Commission, Currency, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Biden, Wolfe Research, Bank, Republican, Bankers, Democratic Party, Consumer Bankers Association, Republicans, Volkswagen Group of America, Automotive News, Environmental Protection Agency, UBS, Mike Wayland Health, Commonwealth Fund, Medicare, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Annika Kim Constantino Media, Paramount Global, Skydance, Warner Bros, Discovery, Allen & Co, Sun, Media, Disney, Fox Corp, Time, Simon &, Random, MGM, FCC, Integrated Media, Twitter, Capitol, White, Lawmakers, Meta's Facebook, Alex Sherman Restaurants, National Restaurant Association, National Labor Relations Board, Social Security, Washington Post, Cornell University Locations: United States, PwC, JetBlue's, U.S, China, Ohio, Michigan, California

☆ Behind the scenes of the Trump movie Trump doesn't want you to see
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-11 | by ( Peter Kafka | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

That's because of a twisty backstory involving gun-shy Hollywood studios, a fledgling producer, and his father-in-law: Dan Snyder, a billionaire Trump supporter who initially bankrolled the movie. Related storiesYou got a Trump supporter to fund this movie, which in no way is a movie a Trump supporter would want to see, let alone fund. And so indirectly, a Republican Trump donor's money was paying for the production of this movie. The nightmare scenario would be that we shoot this movie and then Dan Snyder hates the movie and somehow is able to block it. AdvertisementThis will sound pretty cavalier from me, but: It seems like if there's an "unseeable Trump movie" that is going to immediately make people demand to see it.

Persons: Donald Trump's, Vanity Fair's Gabriel Sherman, —, Donald Trump, Gabriel Sherman, Sherman, Roy Cohn, Trump, Sebastian Stan, Bucky Barnes, Cohn, Succession's, Jeremy Strong, you'd, Dan Snyder, humanizes Trump, I've, humanize Donald Trump, I'm, Roger Ailes, It's Donald Trump's, Mark Rapaport, He's, Snyder, Ivana, Dan, who've, unseeable, Jeff Bezos, doesn't, mishegoss, Time Warner Organizations: Trump, Service, Marvel, Hollywood, Fox News, YouTube, Republican, Washington NFL, NFL, Republican Trump, Cannes, Telluride Film, MGM, Washington Post, FCC, Justice Department, Time Warner, CNN, Time, DOJ Locations: New York City, Cannes, French, France, America, Hollywood

☆ Charter rolls out new Spectrum pricing and internet speeds, aims to 'be a better service operator'
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-16 | by ( Lillian Rizzo | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

In addition, Spectrum pledged to give customers automatic credits for internet outages that are out of their control or when the company's customer service doesn't live up to its promises. That's in part because broadband customer growth at providers including Charter and Comcast has struggled, according to the companies' earnings reports. Spectrum Mobile has 8.8 million total lines and has grown rapidly due to enticing promotional deals and increased mobile usage on reliable Wi-Fi networks, the company said. "When I think about Wall Street, I think about the customer," Winfrey said. "If you focus on the customer, provide great customer service, save them money, provide value, then your capital market strategy, your regulatory strategy, all of that just falls into place."

Persons: Christopher L, Winfrey, Chris Winfrey, —, Spectrum, Tom Rutledge, we've, there's, Craig Moffett, Moffett, Robin Alam Organizations: Charter Communications, Communications Charter Communications, CNBC, Spectrum, Time Warner Cable, Bright House Networks, Charter, Comcast, Verizon, Spectrum Mobile, ESPN, Night, San Francisco 49ers, Baltimore Ravens, Getty Locations: U.S, MoffettNathanson, Santa Clara , California

☆ WBD scored a crucial cable deal — by making HBO free for millions of people
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-12 | by ( Peter Kafka | James Faris | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

AdvertisementCharter will end up paying WBD for the right to give away Max with ads (as well as Discovery+, WBD's much-less-popular streamer), which sells for $10 a month. So WBD isn't exactly giving Max away. But by making a version of Max free to millions of Charter subscribers, WBD is basically inviting existing Charter/Max subscribers to trade down. But this time around, LightShed analyst Rich Greenfield calls the deal a "victory" for WBD, given the weakened position of its cable channels. Related stories"Nobody had faith in Zaslav/WBD to get a Charter deal done, especially a deal that was not even up for an entire year," he writes.

Persons: —, WBD, Max, there's, Warner, Rich Greenfield, Nobody, Greenfield, John Malone, Malone, David Zaslav, Goldman Sachs, He'll Organizations: Service, Warner, TNT, NBA, Business, HBO, Charter, Disney, ESPN, Analysts, Comcast, DirecTV Locations: Zaslav, DirectTV's

☆ Why did people think Beyoncé would play at the DNC? Because TMZ said so.
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-23 | by ( Peter Kafka | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

ET on Friday, TMZ fessed up: BEYONCE NOT AT DNC AFTER ALL, it acknowledged. "To quote the great Beyoncé: We gotta lay our cards down, down, down ... we got this one wrong." It's that in 2024, for much of the modern media world, a TMZ report is pretty close to accepted fact. To me, TMZ's big breakthrough as a Real News Source was when it broke the news of Michael Jackson's death in 2009. And if you still aren't convinced, see this tweet from CNN's Abby Phillip, who declared that "TMZ lost a lot of credibility tonight."

Persons: —, Kamala Harris, Harris, Oprah Winfrey, Beyoncé, TMZ, I'd, I've, Time Warner, Harvey Levin, Michael Jackson's, doesn't, TMZ's, Donald Trump, Abby Phillip Organizations: Service, Democratic, Convention, Business, DNC, TMZ, Reuters, Street, Hollywood, United, National Enquirer, Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, Time, Facebook, Twitter, Washington Post, Trump Locations: Chicago

☆ Mike Lynch won a dramatic 12-year legal battle over his tech company. Weeks later, he and his top lawyer are dead.
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-22 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Hailed as Britain's Bill Gates, Lynch sold Autonomy, his groundbreaking data-management company, to Hewlett-Packard for $11 billion. Shareholders and business commentators were puzzled about what HP, a hardware company, would do with Autonomy, a software company — and why the latter was worth $11 billion. A year after the acquisition, HP wrote down $8.8 billion of the purchase value and accused Lynch of lying about Autonomy's finances. Lynch said HP stifled Autonomy with mismanagement and bureaucracy that pushed out employees and stymied sales. "This verdict closes the book on a relentless 13-year effort to pin HP's well-documented ineptitude on Dr. Lynch," Morvillo said in a joint statement with his attorney colleague Brian Heberlig.

Persons: —, Mike Lynch, Bill Gates, Lynch, Sushovan Hussain, Stephen Chamberlain, Chamberlain, Chris Morvillo, Léo Apotheker, Apotheker, Meg Whitman, James B, Stewart, Time Warner, Bryn Colton, Hussain, hadn't, Henry Nicholls, David Cameron, Cameron, Lynch —, Whitman, Apotheker's, Robert Hildyard, Hildyard hadn't, wasn't, that'd, Guglielmo Mangiapane Morvillo, Morvillo, Brian Heberlig, Angela Bacares, Hannah, Charles Morvillo Organizations: Service, Autonomy, Hewlett, Packard, HP, Business, Cambridge University, Cambridge, Oracle, Adobe, Cisco, Shareholders, New York Times, Time, FBI, Deloitte, Telegraph, The New York Times, KPMG, US Justice Department, Justice Department, High Court, REUTERS, BBC, British Museum, Politico, The Times, Times, Bacares Locations: San Francisco, London, California, Kenya, Sicily

☆ Why Apple should buy Warner Bros. Discovery. No, seriously.
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-10 | by ( Peter Kafka | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

So I've got a not-so modest proposal: Time for Apple to jump in with both feet, and buy HBO — along with the rest of Warner Bros. I know, I know: "Apple should buy X, Y or Z" is a long-running piece of techworld fanfic. But now I think Apple should spend real money and buy WBD. And then, boom: Apple's services business — the part of the company Apple needs to keep growing while its hardware business slows — instantly grows by nearly 50%. AdvertisementIt's one thing for a tech company to buy a minor studio and 50% of the James Bond franchise.

Persons: —, I've, that's, Maxes, Warner, James Bond, hoover, It's, Tim Cook, Steve Jobs, Xi Jinping, Donald Trump, WBD Organizations: Service, Apple, HBO, Warner Bros, Business, Warner Bros . Studios, CNN, Warner mergred, Microsoft, Activision, Big Tech, Comcast, Paramount, Warners Locations: writedowns

☆ Warner Bros. Discovery is counting on deregulation to unlock media deals — if there's even appetite
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-26 | by ( Alex Sherman | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +10 min

If you ask Zaslav, though, the reason Roberts and other potential buyers of media assets aren't interested is because the government has scared them away. Or, perhaps, legacy media companies are simply undesirable assets to own. He extended the life of his previous company, Discovery Communications — and probably his own tenure running a media company — by merging it with AT&T's WarnerMedia in 2022. Without a deal, Discovery would have wallowed as a subscale content provider and owner of declining cable networks. Discovery with another legacy media company, such as Paramount Global , Fox or Disney , or NBCUniversal, if it were spun off from Comcast.

Persons: David Zaslav, David Grogan, Brian Roberts, " Roberts, Comcast's, Roberts, Zaslav, Shari Redstone, Rob Kindler, Paul, Weiss, they've, Kindler, haven't, Morgan Stanley's, Donald Trump's, There's, Joe Biden's, Simon, Simon & Schuster, JD Vance, Lina Khan's, Lina Khan, Biden, Vance, Kamala Harris Organizations: Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference, CNBC Comcast, Warner Bros, Discovery, Allen & Co, Sun, Paramount, Skydance Media, CNBC Redstone, Starz, AMC Networks, Vice Media, Discovery Communications, NBA, Apple, Paramount Global, Fox, Disney, Comcast, CNBC, Google, Scripps Networks Interactive, Time Warner, Scripps, Viacom, CBS, Sky, AMC, IFC, Sundance, Lionsgate, Media, Republican, Democratic, Donald Trump's Department of Justice, Simon &, Random, MGM, Federal Trade, & $ Locations: Sun Valley , Idaho, RemedyFest

☆ Warner Bros Discovery (basically) admits its merger didn't work
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-18 | by ( Peter Kafka | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

That's basically the pitch the management of Warner Bros. Discovery is floating to investors today, via a story in the Financial Times: "A dramatic plan to split its digital streaming and studio businesses from its legacy television networks." And would the money from those declining networks be enough to service all that debt? Apple, most notably, inquired about buying HBO way back when its parent company was called Time Warner. If WBD can't split the company the way it's supposedly proposing now, it will end up selling off assets (maybe CNN?

Persons: That's, WBD, I've, hasn't, Pimple Popper, HBO hasn't, Jessica Reif Ehrlich, Rich Greenfield, you'll, it's, Time Warner, David Zaslav —, Donald Trump, he's, Zaslav Organizations: Service, Warner Bros, Financial, Business, HBO, Max, CNN, Netflix, Big Tech, Apple, Time, Sun, Paramount

☆ These dividend stocks top Thornburg's list — and they are trading at a discount
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-29 | by ( Michelle Fox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Investors searching for income can find some bargains in dividend stocks, according to Ben Kirby, co-head of investments at Thornburg Investment Management. Now investors have an added benefit in that dividend stocks are selling at a big discount, he said. When looking for the right dividend stock, Kirby wants companies offering solid balance sheets and free-cash-flow, as well as competitive advantages and sustainable profit margins. Here are some of the stocks Kirby owns in his funds and that he particularly likes right now. If the reductions continue, coupled with the stock's dividend yield, "that alone will drive a pretty competitive return," Kirby said.

Persons: Ben Kirby, Kirby, Jane Fraser, we're, Fraser Organizations: Thornburg Investment Management, Kirby, Depot, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, CNBC, Citi, Time Warner

☆ Why you don't really want Big TV to bring back 'the bundle' for your streaming services like Hulu, Max, and Netflix
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-15 | by ( Peter Kafka | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

— pine for the good ol' days of the TV bundle. Like cable TV." The old-timey bundle was also a prerequisite for some things you might want, like HBO or Showtime. And now, let's talk about the new-fangled bundle, which isn't the bundle you're thinking of. They're going to find ways to cut costs wherever they can, and that most certainly includes programming.

Persons: I'm, Discovery, Max, Rupert Murdoch's, They're, Brian Roberts Organizations: Service, Business, Big Media, Disney, Warner Bros, Comcast, Netflix, Apple, Big TV, ESPN, TCM, Fox News, HBO, Showtime, Warner, Discovery Locations: Hulu

☆ Snowflake is doubling down on data clean room tech as it forges deeper ties with the ad industry
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-28 | by ( Lara O'Reilly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

"Our expectation in the next year is that people will be talking less about the tech and actually understand the value," of Snowflake's data clean room, Stratton said. The clean room space is competitive and marketers intend to spend more on the techUltimately a data clean room is only as valuable as the customers who share data within it — even when it's being offered for free. "Clean rooms are no longer competing against other clean rooms only," said Wayne Blodwell, the CEO of the programmatic advertising company Impact Media. AdvertisementThe global data clean room market has accelerated in the last two years. The report found that these companies, on average, spent $879,000 on data clean room tech in 2022.

Persons: —, influencers, Kamakshi Sivaramakrishnan, Samooha, AdExchanger, Sivaramakrishnan, Snowflake, Bill Stratton, Snowflake's, Time Warner, Stratton, it's, Wayne Blodwell, Sridhar Ramaswamy Organizations: Service, Business, Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, Snowflake Ventures, LinkedIn, Google, Time, Impact Media, Deloitte Digital Locations: Snowflake, Samooha

☆ Why the big winner in the Reddit IPO is ... a magazine publisher
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-18 | by ( Peter Kafka | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

AdvertisementIt's easy to write gloomy stories about the state of the media business. The media business is often pretty gloomy! This one is about a very Old World Media Company that has struck gold in digital media — one of the very few times that has ever happened. (While we're in disclosure mode, I should note that Business Insider itself is a digital media company acquired by German media conglomerate Axel Springer in 2015. AdvertisementMaybe a worthwhile playbook the next time — and there will be a next time — a big media company opens its wallet for a digital upstart again.

Persons: Condé Nast, —, Reddit, Time Warner, Axel Springer Organizations: Advance, Service, World Media Company, Vogue, Yorker, Big Media, News Corp, MySpace, Penguin, YouTube, Maker Studios, Disney, Fox, Time, Comcast, NBC, Vox Media Locations: Reddit

☆ Gerald M. Levin, Time Warner Chief in a Merger Debacle, Dies at 84
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-13 | by ( Chris Kornelis | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Gerald M. Levin, a “visionary” media executive, as he was often described, who became C.E.O. of the world’s largest media company, Time Warner, and an architect of its merger with America Online, widely considered the worst corporate marriage in American history, died on Wednesday. Mr. Levin had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. Mr. Levin was Time Warner’s chief executive when he and his counterpart at AOL at the time, Steve Case, devised what was then the largest business merger in U.S. history. Instead, it became shorthand for the excesses of the turn-of-the-century dot-com bubble and the era of so-called synergy.

Persons: Gerald M, Levin, Time Warner, Jake Maia Arlow, Mr, Levin’s, Steve Case, Warner, Henry Luce, Jack Warner Organizations: Time, America Online, AOL, Jan, America, American, Hollywood Locations: Long Beach, Calif, Virginia

☆ Why Paramount's problems should worry the rest of the media giants
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-16 | by ( Peter Kafka | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Paramount is in trouble: The one-time media giant's ad sales are plummeting, and so is its stock price. This week, the day after the company broadcast the Super Bowl to a record-setting number of viewers, it announced companywide layoffs. AdvertisementBut why should you, a person who doesn't work at Paramount, care about the future of the company? But even under the best-case scenario, it would be hard for Paramount or any other traditional media company to survive the transition to streaming and digital. Which is why two of the biggest traditional giants — Time Warner and Rupert Murdoch's Fox — took the opportunity to sell most of themselves in 2016 and 2017.

Persons: Lucas Shaw, they're, Shaw, Sumner Redstone, Redstone's, Shari, — Time Warner, Rupert Murdoch's Fox — Organizations: Paramount, Bloomberg Businessweek, Hollywood, Disney, Warner Bros Discovery, — Time Locations: Silicon Valley, China, Hollywood

☆ ESPN, Fox, and Warner Bros are launching a new sports streaming service. It could change TV forever.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-06 | by ( Peter Kafka | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Now combine them on one streaming service. That's what's coming this fall, via a new joint venture, co-owned by Disney, Warner Bros. AdvertisementPeople who are already watching sports on Disney-owned ESPN and the other channels that are joining the joint venture won't lose access to those games, which will stay on the linear channels. Icon Sportswire/Getty ImagesIt's worth noting that all three TV giants have tried a version of a streaming joint venture before. The company that was formerly known as Time Warner, which is now part of Warner Bros.

Persons: —, That's, Disney's, Fox, Time Warner Organizations: Service, ESPN, ABC, Fox, TNT, TBS, Disney, Warner Bros, Fox Corp, Business, NFL, —, CBS, NBC, Discovery, Hulu, Time

☆ Diddy and Diageo part ways in settlement of racism accusations
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-16 | by ( Micah Washington | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Sean "Diddy" Combs and Diageo said Tuesday they have broken ties and settled the music mogul's accusations that the spirits giant neglected his vodka and tequila brands. Mr. Combs has withdrawn all of his allegations about Diageo and will voluntarily dismiss his lawsuits against Diageo with prejudice." Diageo and Combs added that they have "no ongoing business relationship, either with respect to Cîroc vodka or DeLeón tequila, which Diageo now solely owns." In November, Diageo filed a letter aiming to prevent Combs from appearing in DeLeon tequila ads after the singer Cassie accused him of rape and abuse. Cassie and Combs settled the singer's lawsuit that month, only a day after she filed it.

Persons: Sean, Diddy Combs, Debra Kelly Ennis, Guy Smith, Diddy, Stone Rose, Combs, DeLeon, Cassie, Don Julio, Johnnie Walker Organizations: Diageo, Diageo North, Stone, Time Warner Center, New York Supreme, Combs, CNBC PRO Locations: Diageo North America, New York City, London, New York, Manhattan

☆ Will 2024 bring good tidings to media and telecom companies? That's unlikely
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-19 | by ( Alex Sherman | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +10 min

Still, legacy media companies including Disney, Paramount Global, Warner Bros. Since the "Great Netflix Correction" of 2022, there isn't a unifying growth narrative for media and entertainment companies. Disney, Paramount Global and NBCUniversal have all pegged 2025 as their flagship streaming services' first full year of profitability. Beyond financial metrics, several executives privately acknowledged morale has become an increasing concern at legacy media companies. One executive noted he's increasingly hearing from peers that running media and entertainment companies just isn't as fun as it was five or 10 years ago.

Persons: Corey Martin, Granderson Des Rochers, Martin, Jerome Powell, Liu Jie, Shari Redstone, David A, CNBC Shari Redstone, Biden, Sinclair, Lina Khan, Joe Biden, Khan, There's, John Harrison, Brian Roberts, Drew Angerer, Donald Trump, Trump, David Zaslav, Michael M, Disney, Nelson Peltz, Jay Rasulo, Bob Iger, he's, LightShed's Rich Greenfield Organizations: Universal Studios, Warner Bros . Discovery, Disney, Paramount Global, Comcast, Granderson, U.S, Federal, Washington , D.C, Xinhua News Agency, Getty, Treasury, Federal Reserve, Allen, Co . Media, Technology Conference, Grogan, CNBC, Trump, Nexstar, Gray Television, Federal Trade, Verizon, Mobile, NBCUniversal, CBS, NBC, EY, Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference, Trump's Department, Justice, Time Warner, Republican, Democratic, Netflix, Cable, Warner Bros, New York Times, Santiago, Getty Images Media, Management, Paramount Locations: Washington ,, United States, Sun Valley , Idaho, Tegna, Europe, U.S, EY Americas, New York City

☆ Amazon’s health push is a too-costly prescription
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( Robert Cyran | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Snag is, primary care tends to be a recipe for burning cash. Drugstore chains have been buying up primary care companies in the hope of steering patients to their stores. Prime members can add up to five additional memberships to the same plan at $6 a person. The primary care provider had 836,000 members at the end of last year, with practices in two dozen metropolitan areas. It had over 200 million members worldwide as of April 2021.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Jonathan Guilford, Sharon Lam, Aditya Sriwatsav Organizations: REUTERS, Reuters, Amazon, Amazon Web Services, Walgreens Boots Alliance, Telecom, AT, Time Warner, Thomson

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